Changing the world is a messy business, and for the Occupy Wall Street groups camped out in parks and squares around the world, it’s also a cold, damp one. But it can be done. There’s even a pretty good formula for figuring out whether beating a drum and sleeping on the ground is likely to provoke change or whether it’s just so much earnest, feel-good street theater – the Change Formula.
Owning a Mistake Can Protect a Brand and Make Consumers Happy
Have you ever sent an e-mail to the wrong person?Have you ever sent an e-mail to the right contact, but forgot to change the name from the last time you copied and pasted the e-mail (PR 101 mistake)?For the community managers out there, how about sending a tweet from the wrong account? Ouch!All of those things take your breath away and turn your face ghostly white the moment you’ve realized what you’ve done. After the mistake happens you could go on about your way and ignore it, or, you could own up to the mistake and apologize.
FedEx Panda Express Takes Flight
FedEx carefully shipped pandas from China to zoos in Edinburgh and Paris on the FedEx Panda Express. Generating an estimated audience of 2.9 billion viewers and over 2,850 media clips, Ketchum and FedEx leveraged the shipments to expand brand identity in a highly visible, consumer-friendly way.
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Thoughts from Last Week's Critical Issues Forum 2011
Last week, I had the honor of again attending the Critical Issues Forum put on by the Council of PR Firms with some of Ketchum’s senior leadership. This year’s theme was whether or not social media truly had the power to galvanize citizens and effect change within the government — whether it was in the streets in the Middle East or the various #occupy protests taking place around the world. And, from a PR agency perspective, can a brand hope to replicate that kind of activism and truly start a movement or will it be, as Ketchum President Rob Flaherty asked, “crass opportunism?”
Quality Over Quantity When Counting Online Engagement
Confession of a digital consultant: I don’t write comments on Facebook fan pages. Sure, I push the Like button when I am interested in news, videos, offers, etc. But, beyond that, I don’t engage with brands on Facebook. Of course, ironically, a big part of my job is to help brands get people to engage with them online; but so far, I was missing the self-reflection on this subject. Until now. . .
Digital Tweets from Ketchum Peeps – Oct. 28
Is “respecting the Internet” as simple as “respecting people”? What is the future of alarm-clock technology? How do your posts ripple across the online world? And how cool does water – yes, water – look in super slow motion? Find out in this week’s “Tweets from Peeps” and let us know your thoughts.By @benphoster “Creating Movements and Cause Marketing: Dreams Can Come True bit.ly/n7720M by @hardlynormal”By @andradamorar “Gotta love @adanzis and his geeky passions. ‘Four ‘Un-alarm Clocks’ that Make You a Better Sleeper #Ketchum bit.ly/rwgx2M”By @jnbblues RT “5 Tips for Pitching Infographics « The WOMMA Word http://ow.ly/778B7 via @arikhanson”By @JonathanKopp “New G+ RIpples – youtu.be/_j0I1a_Aw4g – shows visualization of your posts traveling across social circles. Incredibly cool!”By @girisham1 “O.M.G. RT @DoelTrivedy: stunning and jaw dropping!
Winning the International Consultancy of the Year and Why Awards Matter
We’re celebrating this week an exciting honor that was years in the making and involved a giant cast of around 2,000 characters. But unlike the epic failure of Waterworld, Ketchum received the equivalent of a PR “Oscar” when we brought home the International Consultancy of the Year award at this year’s PRWeek gala along with a prestigious healthcare award with our Allergan client in partnership with the Royal College of Surgeons, creating an exhilarating energy in the London office and beyond. While I’m as excited as the next colleague, it made me step back and ask: Why do we enter awards? There are probably many reasons, but let’s talk about three.The Ketchum Pleon London team stands with the International Consultancy of the Year trophy.
Review Showdown: Four 'Un-alarm Clocks' that Make You a Better Sleeper
In a continuing effort to lead a healthier life, I’ve been trying to improve the quality of sleep I get each night as well as the way I’m woken up each morning, and I recently found four new technologies that offer much promise on this front. In a new post I just wrote for the technology blog Dvice, I compare the pros and cons of four “un-alarm clocks” and explore the way they could change our traditional sleep patterns. I invite you to check out the post here and let me what you think of these technologies.
Digital Tweets from Ketchum Peeps – Oct. 21
How much has the number of Twitter users logging in each day changed since January? Will teens give up Facebook for Google+? And how game-changing is Instagram’s photo-enhancing app? Find out in this week’s “Tweets from Peeps” and let us know your thoughts.
